Due to fakes, older (not fake!) IC’s made by Prolific are not supported by the current Prolific driver in Windows. Device manager shows PL2303HXA PHASED OUT SINCE 2012. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SUPPLIER.
IC’s made by Prolific are not supported by the current Prolific driver in Windows. Device manager shows PL2303HXA PHASED OUT SINCE 2012. PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SUPPLIER. Like many I have imported from China, USB to Serial devices with IC’s made by Prolific. Prolific provides Android USB Host API driver solution (NO root permission needed) for connecting PL2303 USB-to-Serial devices to Android-powered devices with USB Host API mode support. Please be warned that counterfeit (fake) PL-2303HX (Chip Rev A) USB to Serial Controller ICs using Prolific's trademark logo, brandname, and device drivers, were being sold in the China market. PL2303HXA PHASED OUT SINCE 2012. PLEASE CONTACT YOU SUPPLIERThis isn't actually true=-=-=-=-=-=.
Like many I have imported from China, USB to Serial devices with IC’s made by Prolific. Mine are PL2303HX based. And they do not work anymore! Yellow mark in Device Manager, device cannot start. Reason: Prolific made an update to their Windows drivers to fight the fake IC’s coming from China, like FTDI did (see my FTDI unbricking article) and made older devices unusable.
Windows update, which is by default automatic getting the latest drivers, make it impossible to install older drivers, just gets overwritten very fast.
But you can battle this and get the Prolific driver working again. I did this for two PL2303HXA based USB interfaces. Tested with my PL2303HX USB devices and PuTTY serial and a jumper connecting TXD-RXD as loopback to see typed characters coming back in.
Install older driver
Windows 64 bit
1. Download and Save the PL2303 Installer Program here
PL2303_64bit_Installer
2. Unplug all USB-To-Serial adapters and Double click on the installer “PL2303_64bit_Installer.exe”
3. When it prompts you, plug in the PL2303 USB-To-Serial adapter and click “Continue”.
Windows 32 bit
1. Download and Save the PL2303 Installer Program here:
2. Run the installer program. If it offers a choice to remove the driver, then select to remove the current bad driver. Then run the installer again to install the correct driver.
Alternative driver installation:
Easy to solve with an older version of the drive, like in this archive. Unpack in a folder, Update driver, Look on this PC, Have disk, Browse to the folder.
Virtual drive 9 serial key. Prevent automatic Windows driver updates.
Windows may ‘update’ the driver again, just rollback the update in Device Manager. For a permanent fix use Group a Policy.
Well described here! Note that this is written for Windows 7, but works fine for Windows 8.1 too.
Windows 10 is more problematic,
Follow these guides:
How to enable gpedit.msc (Group Policy) on Windows Home
Bat file described in above PDF, just download, unzip and execute to get Group Policy on Windows Home 10
How to Prevent Windows from Automatically Updating Specific Drivers
PL2303SA USB to Serial Bridge Controller Datasheet
TX/RX Only SOP8 Package
Do not install or use any software from Prolific website until you have read and accepted all of the license terms.
This resource is for PL2303SA USB to Serial/UART Bridge Controller (8-pin), EOL. Click download to view the document.
Mac OS X Universal Binary Driver v1.6.2 (PKG file format)
Prolific Pl2303hxa Driver
For Mac OS X 10.15 Catalina (64-bit)
For Mac OS X 10.14 Mojave (64-bit)
For Mac OX X 10.13 High Sierra (64-bit)
For Mac OS X 10.12 Sierra (64-bit)
For Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan (64-bit)
For Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite (64-bit)
For Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks (64-bit)
For PL2303 H/HX/HXD/EA/RA/SA/TA/TB chip versions
For Prolific USB VID_067B&PID_2303 Only
Includes Driver Installation Manual
NOTE: Mac OS High Sierra 10.13 introduces a new feature that requires user approval before loading new third-party kernel extensions. Go to System Preferences - Security & Privacy and click Allow. https://developer.apple.com/library/content/technotes/tn2459/_index.html
This resource is for PL2303SA USB to Serial/UART Bridge Controller (8-pin), EOL. Click download to view the document.
NOTE: No need to install drivers for following:
Linux Kernel 2.4.31 and above already includes built-in drivers for PL-2303 (VID_067B&PID_2303).
NOTE: Google Android OS is also based on Linux kernel so it also includes PL2303 drivers.
Driver Source:
http://lxr.free-electrons.com/source/drivers/usb/serial/pl2303.c
http://lxr.free-electrons.com/source/drivers/usb/serial/pl2303.h
Kernel (go to driversusbserial folder):
http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/
PL-2303 WinCE 4.2-5.2 Driver for ARM:xScale Processor Standard SDK
Also for Windows Mobile 6, Windows Mobile 5, PocketPC 2003. NOTE: WinCE 6.0 standard driver is not available, please email request for driver customization. SDK image file must be provided.
Also for Windows Mobile 6, Windows Mobile 5, PocketPC 2003. NOTE: WinCE 6.0 standard driver is not available, please email request for driver customization. SDK image file must be provided.
This resource is for PL2303SA USB to Serial/UART Bridge Controller (8-pin), EOL. Click download to view the document.
Requirements:
———————
- USB Device with PL2303HXD, PL2303EA, PL2303RA, PL2303SA controller chip NOTE: PL2303HXA, PL2303XA, PL2303TA chips are not supported (Discontinued Products)
- Android-Powered Device (Tablet/Phones) with USB Host Mode Support
- Android 3.2 and above OS versions
SDK Package includes following:
————————————————————————————————————–
1. PL2303 Sample Test Android App Software (supports Android 5.0)
- Single port (PL2303HXDSimpleTest.apk)
- Modem Status/Flow Control (PL2303HXDModemStatus.apk)
- GPIO Control (PL2303GPIOActivity.apk)
- Multi-port (PLUartMultiSimpleTest.apk)
2. PL2303 Android Demo Apps Users Manual
3. PL2303 Android Sample App Source Code
4. PL2303 Android Java Driver Library (supports Android 5.0)
5. PL2303 Android App Development Reference Documents
6. PL2303 Android USB Host Device Compatible (Tested) List
Also download Android App from GooglePlay Store: Prolific PL2303 USB-UART
How to Connect PL2303 Device to Android Tablets & Phones
Amazon alexa app for mac desktop. This resource is for PL2303SA USB to Serial/UART Bridge Controller (8-pin), EOL. Click download to view the document.
This resource is for PL2303SA USB to Serial/UART Bridge Controller (8-pin), EOL. Click download to view the document.
This resource is for PL2303SA USB to Serial/UART Bridge Controller (8-pin), EOL. Click download to view the document.
Pl2303 Windows Driver Download
This resource is for PL2303SA USB to Serial/UART Bridge Controller (8-pin), EOL. Click download to view the document.
Prolific Pl2303 Driver Version 3.3 Download
File Name Release Date Version File Size
PL23XX_Prolific_DriverInstaller_v204.zip 2020/12/08 2.0.4 10782.28KB
Windows Driver Installer Setup Program
(For PL2303 HXD, SA, TA, TB, RA GC, GS, GT, GL, GE , GD, GR versions)
Installer version & Build date: 2.0.4 (2020-12-08)
- Windows 10 Certified WHQL Driver (TH1 1507, TH2 1511, RS1 1607, RS2 1703, RS3 1709, RS4 1803,RS5 1809,19H1 1903, 19H2 1909, 20H1 VB versions)
Windows Vista/7/8.1/10 (32 & 64-bit) WDF WHQL Driver: v3.8.31.0 (07/30/2019) / v5.0.15.0 (04/06/2020)
- - Windows 10 Certified WHQL Driver (TH1 1507, TH2 1511, RS1 1607, RS2 1703, RS3 1709, RS4 1803,RS5 1809,19H1 1903, 19H2 1909, 20H1 VB versions)
- Windows Vista, 7, 8.1 Certified WHQL Driver
- Compatible with Windows Server 2016, Server2008, 2008R2, 2012, 2012R2
- Auto-download driver via Windows Update (Windows 7, 8.1, 10)
Windows XP (32 & 64-bit) WDM WHQL Driver: v3.8.31.1 (07/30/2019) / v5.0.15.1 (04/06/2020)
- Windows XP Certified WHQL Driver
- Compatible with Windows 2000SP4 & Server2003
- Installer Language Support: English (default), Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Japanese
- For Prolific USB VID_067B&PID_2303, PID_2304, PID_23A3, PID_23B3, PID_23C3,PID_23D3,PID_23E3,PID_23F3,PID_2323.
- Includes Certification Report, User Manual, Driver Release Notes, CheckChipVersion Tool
- Installer supports silent install (add '/s' parameter when running program)